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By BILL DANIELSON

Three or four times last week I noticed an enormous raccoon on my deck in the moments just before dawn. This was clearly a raccoon that was scrounging for any scraps left over from the meal that I had set out for the birds the evening before and I...

Fresh off winning Western Mass’ first state championship since 1952, a number of Pope Francis’ hockey players got the band back together to pick up some more hardware. The Springfield Junior Thunderbirds won six straight games to earn the USA Hockey...

By BILL DANIELSON

One thing that I must remember to be mindful of is that my readers live in different places. Some weather events can be quite localized and others express themselves in different ways depending on latitude and elevation. Thus, what happens in...

By BILL DANIELSON

We’ve reached that point in the school year when my biology students have learned about Gregor Mendel, his experiments with pea plants and the general concepts of genes and heredity. We’ve also taken a look at the structures and basic functions of DNA...

By JULIAN MENDOZA

CONWAY — Even those who are driven to help others sometimes need help. Just ask raptor rehabilitator Tom Ricardi, whose bird enclosures were recently ravaged by a fallen pine tree. According to Ricardi, the tree tore through one of the property’s...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Northampton Animal Control was called out into a house on Elm Street early Wednesday to respond to reports of an owl that had entered the home. The barred owl, named after the distinctive striped pattern on their chest, was flying around...

By BILL DANIELSON

In last week’s column, I featured the American red squirrel and I shared a photo of one of these rascals solving the puzzle of one of my birdfeeders. “How, do I get those peanuts?” it must have wondered and in relatively short order it managed to get...

By MEGHADEEPA MAITY

When I look at the news, I’m far more likely to see a Black victim of police brutality than to see a Black birder like Dexter Patterson (a.k.a. The Wisco Birder) singing and laughing in the woods. Today’s mainstream media have shown a necessary,...

By BILL DANIELSON

I have no idea how many photos exist in my personal collection, nor, I am afraid, will I ever know. I can say (definitively) that in the past 6 years I have taken exactly 104,308 photos, but that is where “exact” comes to a close. My records prior to...

By BILL DANIELSON

For the past couple weeks I have found myself grumbling during my mornings at the kitchen window.For some reason my yard has become popular with a flock of house sparrows (Passer domesticus) and I am not at all pleased. The house sparrow is an...

By BILL DANIELSON

Welcome to 2023! Another calendar has been used, another red journal finished and safely tucked away on a shelf and newness has taken over. I place a brand new desk blotter calendar on my office desk, I unwrap a brand new red journal and begin to...

By BILL DANIELSON

Today’s column will discuss two separate events that illustrate the powerful ability of birds to bring joy to the lives of humans. The first event took place at my school last week, while the second happened in my brother-in-law’s front yard. Both...

By FRAN RYAN

In early January unsuspecting residents of West Springfield and Agawam were shocked and frightened when they discovered dozens of dead or dying birds near their homes, some falling from trees on to lawns homes and cars.The unusual incident...